Ten Macro Photos Of Brand-Name Office Supplies
Archive for February, 2007
hmm, this is quite interesting
When parents praise their children’s intelligence, they believe they are providing the solution to this problem. According to a survey conducted by Columbia University, 85 percent of American parents think it’s important to tell their kids that they’re smart. In and around the New York area, according to my own (admittedly nonscientific) poll, the number is more like 100 percent. Everyone does it, habitually. The constant praise is meant to be an angel on the shoulder, ensuring that children do not sell their talents short.
But a growing body of research—and a new study from the trenches of the New York public-school system—strongly suggests it might be the other way around. Giving kids the label of “smart†does not prevent them from underperforming. It might actually be causing it.
Six Years Ago Today
These entries are taken from a journal I planned on keeping throughout my stay in Edinburgh in 2000/2001. Unfortunately I didn’t keep to it as well as I should have, but the few entries I did get down on paper brought back memories. This is the seventh and final post.
2/5/2001
Hmph. Still no job but I’m having fun all the same.
Amy’s birthday was fun. I got her a few books she was interested in and took her to dinner at DeNiro’s Italian Restaurant just down the street from my flat.
My flatmate Neil’s father died two weeks ago… Neil’s sister Jennie came back here from Australia for a week for the funeral. Sad. Neil’s kept to himself about the whole thing so I haven’t pressed him to talk about it.
Aussie Andy and Luci seemed to have paired off, although Luci would deny anything’s going on. A buddy of Andy’s, Mike, moved in not too long after Amy and Luci. They’re both musicians and they were nice enough to make a CD of some of their songs for me. The first song on the CD is yours truly doing “Being Old Sucks”, recorded in their room.
We (Amy, Luci and I) went back to the museum last Tuesday since it’s free after 4:30 and checked out all the Scottish History exhibits.
We also went to a ceilidh a couple of weeks ago for some traditional Scottish dancing. Fun. Since it was also Burns’ Night we also got to see the Address to the Haggis, preceded by a piper playing and leading the dish into the hall.
It snowed really hard all day yesterday so Amy, Luci, Mike, Andy, Andrew (another Aussie here for a while) and I went to the Meadows, a large flat park area near us, and played in the snow. Something like five inches of perfectly packable, throwable snow. We had a blast.
I’m going to check out this sandwich shop called Archie’s tomorrow about a job. I already put in an application at a place called Semi-Chem (a kind of drugstore) but I’m not sure if I’m going to take it, esp. if I get hired at Archie’s. Keeping me fingers crossed…
Target Is Really Messing With My Head
In an effort to get a little more organized, I headed over to Target.com to pick up a couple things: One, a cap rack that will hang over the door of one of my two bedroom closets, and two, a shoe organizer that will hang over the other door of my two bedroom closets.
My diligent search for the cap rack paid off in no time, and after adding it to my cart I began my search for a shoe organizer. This is where Target started messing with my head. I was presented with two options…
Hmm.
OK, so let’s just ignore the fact that Target thinks it best that I buy one of each and their respective prices. I just need one, but I’m not just gonna buy the less expensive one based on cost alone.
So here is where I started an inner monologue, going back and forth between the two:
Lessee, it’s either the 20 Pocket Over-The-Door Shoe Organizer or the Over-The-Door Shoe Organizer With 20 Pockets. Eh. OK. Well, the first seems to emphasize it has 20 pockets, since it leads its item title with that fact. But I want one that isn’t going to let me down with its over-the-door hanging ability, a trait the second one puts front and center. The first one is a 20-pocket organizer. The second is an organizer with 20 pockets. Shit. Are the pockets of the second one inferior to the pockets of the first one? Is the first one less adept at hanging over the door? Craaaaaaap!
Ultimately, I just ended up buying the shoe organizer. The one with 20 pockets. That hangs over the door.
